The World's Cruelty
by Lawlipop9991
Summary: I would wait for someone special, someone who stole my breath away the moment I first saw them. Until then, my heart shall stay under lock and key, not to be opened. [There are hints of other fandoms in here, see if you can spot them.] Polite critiques are welcomed! Please, do not hesitate to leave a review. I'd very much like feedback on how I'm doing.
1. The Beginning

The world is cruel.

This is a lesson I learned at a young age, at the age of five. I had been introduced to my first class, Kindergarten. I had stood up in the front of the class, wrote my name on the large chalkboard like my new teacher had told me to and stated my likes, dislikes and hobbies. The other kids had stared at me weirdly, as if I had come from outer space. I don't think they understood just what I was talking about. I had been talking about my parents' inventions, astronomy, and geometry, things I later found out weren't to be introduced until, at earliest, middle school. The teacher had gaped at me, dumb-founded and wide-eyed.

From then on to eighth grade, I was known as the "genius, weird kid" to the older kids, and "freaky weirdo" to my classmates. The teacher was very wary of me, it had been very obvious she didn't want to be anywhere near me. Anytime I approached her, she'd give me a look of annoyance, rudely ask what I wanted, and, after answering my questions sarcastically, send me away with a scowl on her face. This would go on until I hardened my heart. The last straw that encased my tender heart in ice, was the betrayal of my so-called friends, Samantha and Thomas. Though, they hated being called those names, preferring to be called Sam and Tucker instead.

They had left me at the first opportunity they got. Tucker had established himself as the best hacker in school and Sam had joined the A-listers without a single ounce of hesitation. They left me in the dust without as much as a goodbye. Then, to add insult to injury, they became my tormentors. Or, rather, they became my main torturers. Every day, it was the same thing. Get up, choke down breakfast, go to school, get harassed, go home, eat dinner, barf up said dinner, shower and go to bed. Of course this is repeated day after day. It never seemed to end, at all. A true never-ending cycle of depression.

I had taken to skipping school just to get away from it all. It wasn't as if I couldn't get books from the public library. Which was where I had spent most of my time. A kind woman, named Mrs. Dodds, worked there. She never seemed to mind my presence, in fact, it was if she liked having me there more than anyone else. She always greeted me with a semi-warm smirk when I came in, as if there was something she knew that I didn't. This was a welcome relief amongst all the people who wouldn't even notice if I was gone in the first place. The teachers wouldn't do anything, they didn't care. If you weren't the star of a sport or some other extracurricular, you were viewed as a lesser being. I would report the neglect, however, the councilors and principal weren't any better. I didn't need any of them though, as long as I had my books and my sister, Jazz, I was fine.

Things progressively got worse through my high school years. Jazz had been diagnosed with cancer her senior year, my sophomore year, and instead of going to a high-end school on a full scholarship like she had planned, she lost all of her beautiful, long auburn hair and had to sit in an uncomfortable hospital bed all day, every day. She died right after my graduation, not even a day after I received my high school diploma. The certificate I got upon her request. I had promised I would make her proud, I'd graduate as a valedictorian. I did, a year early. It was as if she was clinging to her life only to see me graduate.

My parents, Madeline and Jackson Fenton, two eccentric inventors, secluded themselves even more after Jazz's death. They had never paid any attention to me before, and I hadn't expected them to then, especially with the fact I was a child from an affair my mother had with another man. Jackson wasn't my father, no, a well-off man who lived in Los Angeles, California working under a recording studio was my father. The only pieces of information about him in the letters he sent were where he lived and where he worked, even those had been vague though. Figures, even if I did try looking for him it'd take quite a while.

I wasn't going to waste my time searching for a man who couldn't have bothered to check on his kid even once. I was unwanted, that much was clear. I had promised Jazz I wouldn't throw away my life though. I'd continue fighting the monsters, the ghosts, which plagued Amity when I finished college, just as I had since I got these damned powers. I'd go to that college in Japan that she had debated going to once she was done with high school. I think it was called To-Oh, maybe, I would have to check again on just what its name was. Then, once I was done there, I'd go somewhere else in the United States, New York perhaps?

I wanted to hate them, everything, and everyone. With the exception to Jazz and Mrs. Dodds, the kind, mysterious librarian, everybody had forsaken me, left me alone to forever be ignored. I couldn't though, holding grudges for so many people was too exhausting and a waste of time. Not to mention it caused such painful headaches.

No, I wouldn't give them the satisfaction of breaking me. I'd stand tall for as long as I needed to. I would keep people at a safe distance, to keep both me and them safe. It would take quite a lot for any outside parties to get in my good graces. I wouldn't be giving out my affections so loosely like I once had. No, I would wait for someone special, someone who took my breath away the moment I first saw them.


	2. New Family and Investigating

A/N) Second chapter is done! Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer!~ I do not own Danny Phantom or Death Note or any other cartoons, books, and/or anime/manga referenced in this story! I only own the plot I have created!

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><p>Coming to Japan had to be the best decision I've ever made. Sure I had some problems with the language barrier at first, but with the help of a kind, middle-aged woman, named Yuki Kannou, I was able to understand what was being said with little difficulty. I currently work for said kind woman in my spare time. In payment for teaching me Japanese and letting me stay with her and her daughter, Aiko, I work for her in her bakery. It was torture that was made worse thanks to my sensitive nose, smelling all the delicious sweets and not being able to taste them.<p>

Yuki is a widow, her husband having died half a year before I came to Japan. She had been having problems paying her house payment due to her husband's, Rei's, unexpected death. When we found out about each other's problems, me not having a place to stay and Yuki not being able to keep up with payments, we decided to kill two birds with one stone. I rather don't mind Yuki, and I swear Aiko is truly an angel in human form. Yuki works while I go about my classes and I can watch Aiko, and study while working as a cashier. Yuki's bakery earned quite a bit of popularity with me and Aiko there. Though I'm certain that it's mostly thanks to Aiko, the girls that come by must be giggling over her cuteness. I had introduced the idea of Aiko helping us by bringing people their orders to Yuki. She said she'd experiment with the idea.

A week after I asked Yuki about Aiko helping us in the bakery, Aiko was brought in and introduced to the appliances and told where she could and couldn't go. When she asked why she couldn't go in some spaces, like the freezer, I told her that she could possibly get hurt, and that would make me and Yuki very sad. I explained this to her because I didn't want to traumatize her by saying there were monsters in those areas. After making her promise that she wouldn't go into any of the off-limits spaces, we showed her the many different types of pastries we can make and told her what she would be doing. By the time customers started to arrive, Aiko had been dressed in a miniature version of her mother's work uniform. I will admit that she was very adorable, with her turquoise blouse embroidered with little white and purple circular candies on a small pocket on her left side that carried tiny mints and a white skirt that went to her knees complete with the bakery logo, "Sweetie Bell," stitched into it on the right hip.

Aiko helping us had been a good idea. She greeted people at the door and brought their orders to them when Yuki or I finished ringing them up. Aiko loved it, from the many boisterous people to all of the varying scents, as she told me later. Yuki decided that Aiko was welcome to help any time she wished to, since things went so well. The bonus to having Aiko helping us was the lack of struggle she gave against having a nap. Aiko may have loved helping at the bakery, but, by the end of the day, she was exhausted. The more sleep she got, the more Yuki and I got to rest. All in all, it was a major bonus indeed.

Though, on the topic of "resting," it seems as if crime has been hibernating lately, or rather, holding its breath. Just the other day there was another news bulletin about another score of prison inmates dying of heart attacks, and according to the prison guards, they had been perfectly fine the minute before. With all these deaths of criminals from all over the world, all of them being caused by heart attacks, I have no doubt that representatives from all of those countries are going to come together soon. They'll most likely hold an ICPO meeting, with all those people coming at the same time. I also doubt that this series of deaths hasn't garnered the interest of at least one of the world's best detectives, L, Eraldo Coil, or Deneuve, if not all of them.

I've been doing a bit of my own investigating, gathering information, charting the numbers of deaths by country, as well as a bit of snooping. I have concluded that the United States has had the most deaths amongst criminals so far. Finding this information was quite easy, for me anyway. Bouncing the signal of my computer off multitudes of other signals and hacking into prison databases with little of a hard time. Who knew watching Thomas hack so much would come to be so useful? It also helped that the Japanese Police database was so loose. I wouldn't be surprised if someone else was looking at their information, like, oh, I don't know, Kira?

I'm going to try getting into the Interpol meeting, I could probably overshadow one of the newer policemen to do so. Perhaps I'll track that Touta Matsuda person that came into the bakery a while back with a duplicate for a couple of days and get a glimpse of his personality. According to the data in the database, he's still a green policeman, so not a lot of people may know him completely just yet. From what other information I saw on him, he's to go to the Interpol meeting with Soichiro Yagami, the highly regarded chief of the NPA. I can send a duplicate to school, but maybe I should just follow Matsuda while I'm invisible instead of overshadowing him. Yes, I shall do that. I shall only overshadow him if the need arises.

If, on the chance I do need to overshadow him, I will have to be very careful of my word choices, make sure to keep my eyes from glowing and keep my voice from slipping through his. Hopefully, the Interpol meeting will be in a large room, as I expect it to be. That way the echo of my voice will simply be disregarded.

If who I think has taken an interest in this "Kira" case, this Interpol meeting will no doubt be a spectacle to see.

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><p>Please leave any comments on what I could improve upon or anything you liked! Remember that flames, however, shall not be tolerated.<p> 


	3. Interpol and L's Challenge

A/N) This is the chapter where things start to really move along. Some information that I forgot to mention in the last chapters is that Danielle doesn't exist and Vlad died due to his accident in college; which is what caused Maddie and Jack to isolate themselves. A

Disclaimer!~ I don't own Danny Phantom or Death Note nor any other fandoms that are referenced in my story

**Bolded words are from the actual anime. As I introduce Danny to the Task Force, these will appear less and less.**

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><p>"Yuki, I'll be out late tonight, alright! There are some things I need to do after my classes, so I won't be able to work with you and Aiko, okay?" I shouted as I packed everything I needed for my lessons into my shoulder bag.<p>

"Alright, the days have been slower lately due to school finals, we should be fine by ourselves. Though, if you don't mind me asking, where will you be going?" Yuki questioned loudly from the kitchen downstairs.

"I was assigned a project that I need to do a bit of investigating for. I'll be going to a few public libraries, maybe a couple other places, looking for information," I explained as I tromped down the stairs.

I wasn't completely lying, I've taken it upon myself to figure out the Kira case. It was a self-imposed project. I still felt a bit guilty for lying to Yuki though. I'd investigate as Phantom, so as to keep others from connecting Yuki and Aiko to me. I don't want them to get hurt because of me, especially since they've only ever shown me kindness. They weren't scared, and that fact made me want to cry out of joy.

"Try not to stay out too late!" she yelled as I jogged out the door, closing it behind me as I went.

I got to the University and hurried to the bathroom. Once I made sure that no one else was in there with me, I let the glowing rings that signaled my transformation wash over me. The ice cold sensation that always accompanied them was welcomed.

My abilities, which were already powerful, had expanded in number through my high school and college years. Of course I had the basic ghost powers, invisibility, intangibility, flight and ectoplasmic blasts. I also have my ice powers, cryokinesis, and my ghostly wail. All of these on top of my shadow powers, the abilities I've had since I was young. I've gained duplication, teleportation, shape shifting, telekinesis, and, with a lot of effort, the ability to open portals to the Ghost Zone.

I prefer to use my birth powers, they were much easier to control. I could travel within the shadows and raise skeletons from the earth. It was thanks to the former that I got to Japan, and, well, the skeleton helped to relieve my loneliness if only for a short while.

I gave a nod to the duplicate I just created and handed him my shoulder bag after he returned to our human form. We went our separate ways, him through the restroom door and me through the ceiling.

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><p>I flew to the apartment of Touta Matsuda. The young policeman was just making his way out the door with a piece of buttered toast hanging from his mouth. I followed him down to his vehicle and phased in while he started it. The ride to the NPA headquarters was short, but not at all quiet. Matsuda-san liked to sing along to the radio music, it was… debatable if he was good or not.<p>

When we stopped, I phased out of his car and waited while he gathered his things. I shadowed him as he trudged his way to his office, looking at all the people and rooms we were passing by in hopes of memorizing as much as I could. Matsuda-san soon stopped in front of a man with greying hair. The man, holding himself with confidence and giving off an air that demanded respect, greeted Matsuda-san with a nod and a handshake. This man was most likely to be Soichiro Yagami, husband to Sachiko Yagami and father to Light and Sayu Yagami.

"We will be leaving for the meeting soon. You are just in time, so there is nothing to worry about, Matsuda-san," the Chief of the NPA said in response to Matsuda-san's worrying.

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><p>When we got to the building that the meeting was scheduled to be in, we walked in and Yagami-san signed Matsuda-san and himself in. He then dismissed himself to go to the restroom and left Matsuda-san to find the room the meeting was being held in. Ten minutes went by with me smiling in amusement and Matsuda-san wandering in confusion. I finally made a trail of frost leading to the room for poor, confused Matsuda-san to follow. I walked to the back right corner of the room, where a large majority of shadows had congregated, scoping out the room and the people as I did so.<p>

It didn't take very long for the meeting to start. Chief Yagami joined Matsuda-san in the seats designated for them a few minutes before things really got started. Once every seat was filled, there was a few minutes of silence before a cacophony of noise and yelling exploded from the group. It got to the point that I had to cover my ears, and, even after doing that, I could still hear them. Vaguely, I could see Matsuda-san whisper something to Yagami-san and get an answer in return, but I couldn't them over everyone else.

Suddenly, everybody stopped, they didn't talk and they didn't move. As a collective group, every person turned their head to a man walking onto the stage at the lowest point of the room. The man wore a leather duster with four buckles on the chest that covered his body, from his neck to his lower shins, a brown fedora that was lowered to cover his face and shiny, black, leather dress shoes. From my position, I could see an outline of a mustache and a couple wrinkles. There was no doubt in my mind that this is Watari, the only known person to be able to contact L.

Watari finally stopped at the podium in the middle of the stage, the podium that held a projector for presentations. He pulled out a laptop from under his coat, set it down on the podium and plugged it into the projector with a connecting cord. The projection screen lit up with a picture of a letter, the letter "L," the font of the letter being Cloister Black. The letter "L" in Cloister Black font was the symbol of L, the world's best detective. We'd be listening to the mystery man himself.

**"Greetings to all of you at the ICPO. I am L,"** a monotone, computerized voice drawled from the room speakers.

**"The difficulty of this case lies in its unprecedented scope, and make no mistake, we're witnessing an atrocious act of mass murder. One that is unforgivable. This case cannot be solved without the full cooperation of the ICPO. That is, all of the police organizations you represent throughout the world. You need to make the decision to fully support the investigation, at this meeting. Also, I require additional cooperation with Japan's National Police Agency,"** L's computerized voice echoed around the room.

Well, that didn't surprise me in the least. I had already figured out that Kira was in Japan and that he or she needed a name and face to kill. The long series of deaths started with a man named Kurou Otoharada, who I'm guessing was simply a guinea pig for Kira to test his or her powers on.

I heard Matsuda-san mutter an intelligent, **"Huh!"** but Chief Yagami was much better with expressing his surprise.

**"What! Why Japan in particular?"** he questioned.

**"Whether the guilty party is an individual or a group, there's a strong possibility they're Japanese, and even if they're not, we can be sure that they are hiding in Japan,"** L responded.

**"What is this based on?"** Yagami-san asked.

**"Why Japan, you ask? I think I'll be able to provide you with proof of that after I directly confront the culprit,"** L replied.

**"A direct confrontation?"** the Chief murmured questioningly.

**"At any rate, I will set up the investigation headquarters in Japan,"** L finalized.

I will admit, L's plan to use a criminal meant to be executed soon, in his confrontation with Kira, was smart. Though, that was to be expected, you couldn't be the best detective in the world if you were dumb. He'd have the scripted challenge broadcasted in every region of Japan, one after another, until Kira responded by killing the criminal. By replying to L's challenge, Kira would be giving his location away.

"We'd like to apologize for this interruption. We bring you a live broadcast from the ICPO," the news anchor informed.

**"I head an international police task force which includes all member nations. I am Lind L. Tailor, otherwise known as L,"** the black-haired man on the television revealed.

**"So this is how it all starts,"** Yagami-san said.

**"But, you said L has never shown his face before, why would he show himself now,"** Matsuda-san asked.

A good question, for someone who didn't know what it meant to have a secret identity. I knew that the man on the screen wasn't L the moment he appeared, however, they didn't. Except me, everyone standing in this office in this building, the NPA headquarters, didn't know that the man on the television wasn't L, but a criminal that had been caught in secrecy. These men didn't know L was still hiding, I knew because I was the same as L. I wasn't about to shout to hundreds upon thousands of people who I was and what I am, why would L?

**"It must mean that L is serious about this,"** Yagami-san answered.

**"Criminals around the globe are being killed by a serial murderer. I consider this crime to be the vilest act of murder in history. I will not rest until the person or persons responsible are brought to justice. Kira, I will hunt you down, I will find you. Kira, I have a pretty good idea of what your motivation might be and I can guess what you hope to achieve, however, what you're doing right now is evil,"** the criminal in disguise spoke.

Not a minute after he said that did his eyes widen as he grabbed at his chest and tossed his head into the air. He then collapsed onto the table in front of him, dead. Two men came and dragged him away after checking for a pulse. Seconds after they stepped off screen, L's stylized letter appeared.

**"I had to test this, but I never thought it would actually happen. Kira, you can kill people without having to be there in person. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't just witnessed it. Listen, Kira, if you did indeed kill Lind L. Tailor, the man you killed on the television previously, he was a criminal whose execution was scheduled for today. Police arrested in secrecy, so you wouldn't have heard about him on the TV or the internet,"** L explained.

Kira has to be furious right now, or surprised, thinking he had killed L, but in reality he just screwed himself, hard. He gave us an area to investigate, by making a mistake on his part. So far, in this competition, it's L; one and Kira; zero.

**"I assure you, L is real, and I do exist. Now try to kill me! Come on, try to kill me! Can't you do it? Well, Kira, it seems that you can't kill me after all. So there are some people that you can't kill. You've given me a useful hint. I will return the favor. This broadcast was said to be broadcast around the world, but in actuality, we're only being broadcasted in the Kanto region of Japan. I had planned on broadcasting this around the whole world, one country at a time, but it looks like I won't need to. I now know where you are,"** L taunted.

Hmm, one would have never expected the world's best detective to jibe the enemy into killing him. That would only make a person angry, oh, who am I kidding? I pissed off who knows how many people with my witty banter. I did it to make them make mistakes during our fighting, and it always worked. L was most likely doing the same thing in a different way.

**"The police treated your first killing as an unrelated incident, but one of your first victims was in Shinjuku. On the scale of crimes your victims committed, this ones' crime was by far the least serious. Furthermore, his crime was only ever reported in Japan. I use that information to deduce this much, you are in Japan, your first victim being little more than a test subject. Meaning you haven't been killing for very long,"** clarified L.

It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who figured that out. I wonder, just how much information that L has will correlate with mine.

**"We decided to broadcast in Kanto first because of its large population, luckily for us, we found you. I never expected things to go this well. It won't be too long now before I'm able to sentence you to death,"** admitted the detective.

**"L sure lives up to his reputation,"** muttered Matsuda-san.

**"Yes, he proved that Kira exists, that the deaths were murders and that he is here in Japan,"** Chief Yagami agreed.

**"Naturally, I'm very interested in how you're able to commit these murders without being seen. However, I don't mind waiting, you can answer all of my questions when I catch you. I hope we can meet soon, Kira,"** his last words floated around the room.

Ha! He was pretty much saying, "I can't wait to see you captured."

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><p>I doubted there was anything else I needed to stay in there, in the NPA building, for. So I took off for the bakery. Landing next to my copy, I tapped his shoulder. He finished ringing up a customer and readying their order, he excused himself to the restroom. I followed, closing the door behind us. I lifted my invisibility and he transformed, reaching for my hand.<p>

The moment we connected, I received his memories as we became one again. Thanks to my duplicate's findings, I can safely say that Kira is a student. I'll wait and see if the NPA or L can confirm that as well. All I need to do is wait.

Knowing that the police will most likely chicken out of the investigation, the group left standing tall will be small. L has to have considered this already. The ones left, the officers willing to give their lives, will be the people working in close quarters with him. Perhaps even seeing him in person. Yes, he'll take the most trustworthy of the men, the ones who don't care who they work with so long as Kira is captured in the end. Those men shall be the ones to see the face of the greatest detective in the world. I will wait for those men to be revealed.

Stepping out of the restroom, I returned to my register. Watching Yuki and Aiko go about their business, I heard the door open. In walked a brown-haired, brown-eyed boy around seventeen years of age in a light brown suit. It wasn't him that made me bat an eye though, it was his companion that did. The vaguely human like thing behind him bore blue skin, eyes with red pupils and yellow sclera, black pants and shoes, a dark grey belt complete with a skull buckle, and a dark blue shirt with feathers on the shoulders to top it all off.

Keeping my face the same wasn't very hard, I've seen far too many bizarre things to question this. I looked at the boy as he walked up to the counter I was standing behind. When he stopped in front of me, I looked him in the eye with a smirk on my face and greeted him, "Hello, welcome to Sweetie Bell's! What can I get for you?"


	4. Agents, Anger and L's Friend

A/N) New chapter is done and uploaded! It took me a while to finish this with all the reviewing for finals that my teachers have me and my classmates doing. Such a pain! Though it definitely helps that we're reading the Odyssey in English, I'd be bored otherwise. I go from Latin to English on to Textile Arts, which is followed by Science, Study Hall, Geometry, and AFJROTC, in that order. I know I'll ace the finals for the first three and maybe the sixth, but my drill finals for ROTC have me on edge. Here's this chapter in the hopes I don''t completely and utterly fail.

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><p>It wasn't very long before I started seeing people trailing other people. If my theory about the NPA and L not trusting one another was correct, they were most likely agents form another country. Perhaps each agent was from a different country. There were at least ten agents in Japan, give or take a couple if I was wrong.<p>

Then there was that boy, Light Yagami, that often visited the bakery, always with that tall humanoid creature that held a smile full of jagged teeth. A man with black hair would come in after him, order a cup of coffee, and sit not too close, but not too far, to him. I suspected that he was an agent, following a potential suspect, Light, on L's request. The tall creature would tell the young man that the older man with black hair was watching him. That is what I could glean from the answers that Light would give the creature after its lips moved. I had a hard time of it, trying to read the creature's lips, lips that were always stretched in a gruesome grin. Then, when he was done with his order, he'd leave with his weird buddy. The agent would stay and extra few minutes, so as to not attract any unwanted attention, then continue after Light and his odd looking creature companion.

People keep having heart attacks, and thanks to that pressure, NPA officers are dropping out of the Kira case like dead flies out of the air. There is very little trust between the NPA and L. It won't be long before the final group of men reveals itself. I'll have to introduce myself to them. That will be easier if I bring my data, which is something I had planned to do from the very start. Hopefully they will be more at ease once I've explained what I've been doing. I just pray that they don't flip out, I know that it'd murder my ears without a doubt.

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><p>"We cannot continue to investigate this case, sir! We have families to think about!" the man said loudly.<p>

I could taste the anxiety in the air. All the men were worried, understandably so considering what they just heard, after listening to the three men announce that all Kira needed to kill someone was their name and face. This wasn't a surprise to me, I'd figured that out a while ago, seeing as I had started investigating Kira before they had. Though it's not like I could just present my information to them. With the lack of common sense in the world, they'd probably end up not believing me thinking that I'm just an amateur, a kid. Which was another reason why I wanted to wait for the number of officers to decrease, less people equals less complaints.

The others in the office began murmuring angrily or worriedly. The angry people muttered things about how L never showed his face while the worried people questioned whether they should continue with the case or quit. L and Watari were quiet, simply listening to them jabber. I noticed Watari's mouth turn into a frown after there were a few derogatory remarks quietly directed at L.

Perhaps Watari was L's guardian? Maybe, his father? Either way, Watari was most certainly not happy after hearing those choice words, at all. His aura, which had been calmly swaying before, was now lashing around him agitatedly. Of course only I could see this, but the other humans could sense that he was angry. They swiftly moved away from him if they didn't need anything from that area, however, those who were working on the computers close to him were not as lucky. They didn't have my sympathy though, they brought it upon themselves. If Watari isn't L's father figure then I'll be damned. Oh, wait… I already am. Crap!

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><p>"Another six, all heart attacks, yes, that's Kira," the Chief confirmed.<p>

"What? Three did something we haven't seen before? What are you talking about? You said they died of heart attacks didn't you," he questioned in surprise.

"One moment, I'd like to type this information in, in detail. Okay, tell me slowly," Chief Yagami requested politely.

At this point the Chief stops typing and listens to the person on the other end of the phone line with a disturbed look on his face. A few minutes later Watari informs L of the unusual deaths, telling him that he'd send him the pictures that had been taken of the evidence and a note that had been written by one of the victims.

A few minutes after L is sent the pictures, he suddenly spoke, "Chief! Concerning the last three victims, please tell the media that they simply died of heart attacks. Kira may be using those victims to test something. We can't let him see if he succeeded or not."

"Using human beings as guinea pigs… it's disgusting!" Chief Yagami declared.

Yes, it truly is. I've always believed that life was priceless, and seeing this want-to-be-god throw away all those lives, those people, made me want to punch something. They may have been criminals, yes, but they were people first and foremost. Not only that, but you have to ask yourself this, how many? How many of those people had been falsely accused? How many of those people had families? How many families were left without a father or mother to support them? How many orphans were now suffering without their parents?!

As a former hero, I wasn't supposed to judge anyone. Good or bad, it didn't matter what kind of person they were, I was to save them if they were in dire trouble. I was to be unbiased, no matter if I liked that person or not. If I turned my back to someone in need of help just because I didn't like them, I wouldn't be able to call myself a hero. This Kira person, he made me absolutely furious. I wasn't about to let that fury however.

These latest deaths had to be an answer to L's challenge. The note, after sneaking a peek and thinking about it for a while, is clearly the beginning of a coded question. What kind of question, I don't know, but I have not a single doubt that Kira will finish his inquiry soon.

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><p>It was several days later that the secret agents died. Not just one, all of them. The black haired man, as I had originally thought, had been an agent. He no longer came into the bakery following Light, the rather self-accomplished looking young man. They had all died a week after that attempted bus high-jacking. Maybe there was a connection between the two?<p>

The officers were furious after finding out that L had them tracked. Many of them left, either because they didn't want to work with L anymore or because they now knew that Kira wasn't limiting himself to killing only criminals. Kira wasn't going to show mercy, he'd take out anyone who got in his way. His biggest obstacle right now was definitely L. He'd need a way to kill him, seeing his face and getting his name was the only way to do so. Getting close to L is what he will attempt now. If he doesn't, he'll have a much harder time of ridding himself of L.

To avoid that, I'll have to introduce myself to L first. I'll get close to him to protect him, not to kill him. They say L only investigates cases because they interest him, not out of a sense of justice. That may or may not be true, but L was needed. There is no denying that fact. He solved many of the cases that the police couldn't. L was reclusive, keeping to himself with only Watari for company, and even that wasn't for certain.

If the public knew who he was, he'd be pestered endlessly. Either by his fans or people that hated him for one reason or another or for no reason at all. Then there were the ass-hats that would just pretend to be his friends until he was bled dry, left with nothing but a broken heart. Just like I had been. I don't want to see that happen to another person, the feeling is absolutely terrible and definitely not something I'd wish upon anyone.

Yes, I'll protect him not only from Kira, but from that pain as well. I will be his friend, may be even his first friend. I shall be his sword, shield and or armor should he need it.

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><p>AN) Reviewers!

Phantom Possible ~ Thanks for the compliment! I'm glad you like my idea! I'm sorry I didn't put any answers to the reviews in the last chapter. I would have had I not had to hurry to a family outing, one I sadly was not allowed to bring my laptop to. Your right about the flaming, though it's not so much the comments directed at me as it is certain topics that irritate me. Thanks for reviewing!

shadow of eyes ~ Thank you! I hope this chapter is satisfactory. I hope you like this too!

Hopefully I can update again soon!


	5. Shoko Maki

Hey, everybody! I've finally gotten this chapter up! I didn't get a chance to work on it until Friday around 4 o'clock. I hadn't expected that my classes would change right after Finals, so that really threw me off course. That and the fact that I no longer have a free period in between two of my other classes. Which means I can't write during school and won't be able to write until I get home, sometime around 4 to 5 o'clock. This really irritates me because I rather like writing during my school day, it helps get rid of my stress. Now, not being able to get rid of my stress, my head feels like it's about to explode. Needless to say, I hate my new schedule.

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><p>I was right about the police not trusting L. After finding out about the FBI agent, the link between the two was a lot more frayed. Every day I'd hear muttered expletives about either Kira or L. I can understand why they'd curse Kira, seeing as he's killed hundreds of people, but was it honestly necessary to swear at L? L is the best detective in the world, did they not think that there were people on this planet that would like to kill him?<p>

All of this reminds me of all the "heroing" that I did in Amity. I'd help a person, only to get spat on in return. I didn't have to help them, did I? No! But I did. I did because I knew that it was the right thing to do. I knew that, if I didn't help them, they would die.

Now, L is helping the NPA, the world really, by investigating this case. He didn't have to, he could've just sat back and watched everyone die, but he did. These people didn't know him, yet they insulted him every time Watari was gone with the laptop!

It was sickening, listening to them. It was like being a spectator, watching as someone else went through the same harassment that I went through. It angered me quite a bit, hearing their words and thoughts. They didn't know him, so they shouldn't be talking! If they wanted someone to swear at they could swear at Kira, not the person taking precious time out of their day to help them! There was only a small group of men who didn't stoop to the others' level. They were there to work, and that's what they did.

They were currently talking about another note that had been left by one of Kira's victims. It was easy to figure out, taking the first word of every line to make a fragment of a sentence. "L, do you know gods of death…," is what the two notes read when they were combined. The next note should be the third and final part of the question.

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><p>What. The. Hell. "L, do you know gods of death love apples?" Really?!<p>

Kira killed three people to send that? He has to be dicking around, trying to get under L's skin. There has to be something else though, a bigger clue. With this bold a move, he's trying to get L to reveal himself. Kira may be pressuring him, but he or she doesn't know about me. My anonymity is simply a safeguard for Yuki and Aiko. I'm pretty much already dead, so I'm not really worried about myself. When someone's dead, they're dead. The accident that killed me isn't exactly common.

Thinking about the Kira case as I walked home from listening to the bickering policemen at the NPA headquarters, I didn't see that a woman turned the corner of a building walking with her head down, lost in her own world like me. Just as I was about to turn and walk in the same direction she was walking, we ran into each other. She ended up on the cold cement as I stumbled backwards.

Catching my balance once more, I held my hand out to help her to her feet as I studied her. She was a beautiful woman, with her long, black hair that fell to the middle of her back, creamy pale skin and deep, dark blue eyes. Her eyes, though so very gorgeous, were filled with pain, as if she had a part of her heart ripped out. She wore a black, leather jacket, tight navy blue jeans and black, short-heeled boots.

"I'm terribly sorry about that, I hadn't been watching where I was going," I apologized sincerely.

"It's alright, I wasn't either," she admitted as she wiped the cold December snow off of her pants.

Now, normally I would have just apologized and said good-bye, but we were going in the same direction and she had peaked my curiosity. I wanted to know why she looked so miserable. I don't know who she is, for all I know she could be Kira, but I wanted to know why she was sad. I'll give her my alias instead of my real name.

"My name is Ryu Kuro, it's nice to meet you. Though I must say that our greeting could use a little work," I introduced myself.

She laughed, "Yes, I suppose it could. I'm Shoko Maki."

We walked together, chatting about random things. After a while, we stopped at a small coffee shop to get out of the bitter, cold wind. Inside the café, Shoko and I sat in one of the more secluded areas. On one wall in our view was a medium sized television. On the TV was a news channel, broadcasting more deaths of prisoners. This broke our contented ramblings.

"This is disgusting, how can someone just keep taking lives like this?" I asked Shoko quietly, hoping to gauge her response.

Shoko had a very dark look on her face, a look that spelled danger for anyone who was the cause of her ire. If anyone set her off when she was like this they should have an escape route in mind, and even then they aren't guaranteed to get away from her without a few bruises. She lost someone close to her, of that I am now most certain, but who was it? Maybe a sibling, parent, or lover? They must have been a great person because I doubt that Shoko, who I can already tell is both kind and stubborn in equal measures, would tolerate being with someone who was rotten.

"Shoko, did Kira take someone important from you?" I inquired quietly.

Shoko, startled out of her glaring at the television, looked at me with wide eyes. She glanced down at the table we were sitting at with sadness. It was obvious that she was debating on if she should tell me or not, if she could trust me. I just waited for her answer in silence.

Shoko looked up at me with tears in her eyes and said one word, "Yes."

Her answer made me angry, but I didn't let it show. Letting my anger show wasn't going to help her, what she need was for someone to lend her their ear and listen, not for someone to rant in hers. I listened as she poured her heart out. She sobbed about her fiancé, Raye Penber, and his murder. Then, after draining herself of her sorrows, she told me of her theory of Kira being able to kill people with more than just heart attacks.

"That does sound like it could be possible. He can kill people without having to be there in person, so why wouldn't he be able to do that? Right?" I agreed.

"Yes, my theory is that Kira got Raye to show him his ID in that bus jacking a while ago. Kira had to have been on that bus because, a couple days after showing his ID to someone, he died," affirmed Shoko.

"That's what I thought too, it just seemed too suspicious to me. Maybe if you asked the driver of the bus if he or she saw you fiancé, and let he or she see a picture of him, they could confirm if they remember if they saw him or not. Then after that, you could ask them if they saw him talk to anybody," I suggested.

"That is what I was thinking of doing. I had also thought of taking my theory to the Japanese Task Force in the hopes of talking directly to L," Shoko confessed.

"Good Thinking," I responded as I looked at a clock at the far end of the café, "Well, it's getting pretty late, would you like me to walk you home?"

"No, I'll be fine on my own. Thanks for listening to my theories and letting me get a few things off my chest," she thanked me.

"No problem. Here's my number, you can call me if you need someone to listen to you. I wouldn't mind talking to you again, so don't hesitate to call," I responded as I handed her a napkin that I had just wrote my cell phone number on.

"I think I will call you, talking to someone who shares my views has definitely made me feel better. Here's my number, I'll talk to you again, Ryu. Have a good evening," Shoko replied.

"You too, hope to see you again soon," I nodded to her as we walked out of the café.

I'm glad that I could help her. Looking back at her as she walked away, I could tell that Shoko had her confidence back. She didn't shuffle her feet with her head down and shoulders hunched anymore. Her head held high, her shoulders squared and confident in her stride, she was the picture perfect form of fearlessness. Yes, I truly am happy that I helped get such a smart, beautiful woman back on her feet.

Turning back to my route home, a smile made its way onto my face unnoticed. I enjoyed talking to Shoko and I look forward to talking with her again. It's very hard to find someone with any common sense these days. You go outside and it's like everyone else left their brain at home. Meeting Shoko was a breath of fresh air. She knew what she was talking about and could explain it clearly. I can't wait to talk to her again.

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><p>Review Responses ~<p>

Supaherolena02 ~ Thank you! I'm glad my story caught you eye! This is the newest chapter, I hope you like it. You won't have to wait much longer when it comes to the meeting between Danny and L, I'm thinking of introducing the two to each other within the next two chapters! ;)

Paramillo ~ I'm happy you like it! Thank you so much for reading I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the previous one. :D

Guest ~ Thank you! This is what you were waiting for, right? :)

Well, here it is, the fifth chapter of The World's Cruelty. I hope everyone enjoys it! I try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible, but please remember and respect that I am a student and my studies must come first. I am trying to lengthen my chapters, but not everything goes to plan. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up by the end of next month at the latest. Until next chapter, bye!


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